It was the most important test of her life — she just didn’t know it at the time.
Jenna Anne Johnson, a 21-year-old college student from South Dakota, underwent a routine pap smear last summer and was shocked to learn that she had Stage 3 cervical cancer.
“I had never even gotten my wisdom teeth out or broken a bone and thought I was just an average healthy 21-year-old,” Johnson recalled on Instagram. “I was mad at God, mad at the world and mad at all the healthy people who didn’t have to get their life put on hold.”
The bubbly blonde was told she had a 4.5-centimeter tumor and would need to undergo chemotherapy and radiation. She began chemotherapy in November and hoped for the best.
About 11,500 US women — typically between the ages of 35 and 44 — are diagnosed each year with cervical cancer, which is when abnormal cells in the cervix grow uncontrollably. The cervix connects the uterus to the vagina.
More than 90% of cervical cancers are caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV), but Johnson said her cancer is one of the rare few not from HPV.
Cervical cancer is highly treatable when found early, so it’s important to start getting pap tests at 21. About 4,000 American women die each year from the disease.
Unfortunately, results from a PET scan in December revealed that Johnson’s aggressive cancer had spread to over 12 lymph nodes.
She’s now Stage 4, which means that the cancer has moved beyond the pelvic area, making a cure unlikely.
Johnson recently had a chemotherapy port placed under her skin as she faces much more treatment.
She’s been sharing her journey on TikTok and Instagram, everything from shaving her head to explaining the medical consultations she had and the two symptoms that prompted her to get that fateful pap smear.
Abnormal exhaustion
“I was sleeping for, like, five extra hours a day, like, as a nap. And it was just insane,” Johnson recently reflected in a TikTok that got 1.4 million views. “Everyone thought I was so lazy … but no, that turned out to be a cancer symptom.”
Fatigue is a common symptom of advanced cervical cancer because cancer cells use a lot of the body’s energy.
Abdominal cramps
“I remember being on my hands and knees in the bathroom, like praying to God … just stop these. Honestly, just, like, kill me because they hurt so bad,” Johnson said. “I just thought that I was constipated or something.”
A cervical cancer tumor can put pressure on nearby organs, tissues and nerves, causing pain that can often feel like menstrual cramps.
Other cervical cancer symptoms include abnormal vaginal bleeding, watery, bloody or foul-smelling vaginal discharge, unexplained weight loss, an unusual need to urinate, yellowing of the skin and itchy skin.
